The Stars Above
by Solomon Vazquez
Summary: The Courier has driven back the NCR and Casar's legionaries, but his travels are far from over. Join him as he battles through the landscape of Albion, to help the prince recover his throne and his own in the process. Now back, with added awesome.
1. Chapter 1

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Solomon Vazquez

The Stars Above

Chapter One

The Courier looked around the field he stood in, and saw that his job was

finnished. All around him were the bodies of NCR troops and Legionaries, with the odd secuiritron lying among them.

Tonight had been a good night.

"They shouldn't have messed with us, isn't that right dearie?" Lilly Bowen said clutching the bumper sword she held in her hands, covered in guts, among other things.

"That's right." The Courier said, punching a few buttons on his Tesla Power Armor, and snapping a picture on the camera he had gotten from a sign designer in New Vegas.

A securitron with a face matching The Courier's approached the duo in earnest.

"Hey! you did a great job slaughtering those soldiers, your majesty. And I'm not just saying that because I have to- I don't have to! Lilly you look unsettlingly ugly today!" the securitron said.

"Watch it, Yes-Man, she's good with that bumper sword." Yes-Man had been revling in his ability to be negative after the battle of hoover dam, when he had been reprogrammed so no one could bend him to his will but The Courier.

"Remind me why we gave him your face again?" Lilly mused behind The Courier.

"Oh, Lilly. Always the cynic." The Courier said, and indeed, she had changed quite a bit from her old grandma state after The Courier advisedher to take her medication. Her mind had cleared up, and her schitzoprenia was cured. The Courier pointed west, where there was a battle escalating a few miles away. He couldn't be sure but it looked like the Brotherhood Of Steel was laying some fire on the retreating forces. He touched a button on the Power Armor helmet and his vision zoomed in. He could make out a figure punching the limbs off of soldiers. "Oh, Veronica. I told you to stay at the Lucky 38." He said.

"Well, folks, I believe it's time we travelled on home, and consollidate our new empire! Whatdya say?" Yes-Man said.

The Couier agreed.

The trek back to the Lucky 38 was long, and hard, and Lilly kept complaining about a fungal infection on her foot, but when they arrived, it was all with it.

Standing at the gates of New Vegas were all the friends The Courier had made over the years. A small group of Boomers were there, Elder McNamara was there, with Veronica and a few of the other BoS members. Benny was there, in the backround, wearing his usual checkred suit, smirking a little at the irony of it all. Papa Kahn was there, with the entire clan of the Great Kahns and the integrated Vault 19 powder gangers. Cooke waved as The Courier's view passed over him. Arcade Gannon was there, the enclave remnants gaurding their vertiberd from the pesky thugs that inhabited Freeside. ED-E was with them, beeping and triggering recordings like crazy as the chatter set him off.

Cassidy was there, looking as good as ever. The Courier still remembered the wild fling they had after the victory at hoover dam. He would never forget it. And lastly, the King, backed by all his members was there, armed, and they were approaching the stand he was on.

"Hey. You look like you're having a mighty fine time. mind explaining what the hell all these armed men are doing on my turf?" He said. The Courier had a flash of dejavu. This had happened before.

"Freeside is no longer yours, King. The Mojave wasteland is my turf now." He said. He saw Rex at the King's knees, and he called down to him. "Ain't that right, Rex?" The dog barked and trotted over to The Courier. "Ain't that right, Mojave Wasteland!" He shouted at the growing crowd, which now stretched beyond the confines of Freeside. The crowd cheered loudly. The Courier hadn't thought there were this many people in the whole world.

"No, you ain't the king. I'm the king. I'm King!" King said. He pulled out something that looked rather humerously like a toy gun.

The Courier flinched. What? Hadn't he had that... oh shit. King aimed right at The Courier and let fly. The last thing The Courier saw was Benny, now at the front of the crowd, with a huge grin on his face. He could almost hear him say, _from where you're at, this must look like an 18 carrat run of bad luck._


	2. Chapter 2

The Stars Above, chapter 2

At first, everything was dark. So dark The Courier doubted he could see his hand if he put it in front of his face. He could, however, feel the pressure of his power armor, so he knew he was still alive. He was always a hard man to kill, and aparently that hadn't changed yet.

Despite what looked like a very bleak situation, The Courier stayed calm. Partly because he really had no other choice. It looked like the fuel cells for his power armor had ruptured or otherwise depleted when Archemides II had hit him. He couldn't move if he wanted to. After what felt like hours, he began to see faint lines of light shine in from the edges of his sight. Eventually, the light began to outline strange shapes, and a few minutes later, he could see clearly defined strips of green material. It also looked like the blast had shattered his visor. Goddamn it.

A strange smell began to overtake The Courier. He had smelled nothing like it in all his life. Well, the parts of it that he could remember, that is. It was like… it was like the co-op in West Side, only a thousand times sweeter and stronger. Like the perfume that Cassidy used to wear…

"What in the bloody hell is _that?"_

The Courier started. Or, he tried to, at least. Still weighted down by his suit, we couldn't move a muscle, though he knew by instinct that someone had discovered him. How embarassing.

"It looks like… well, it looks like some guy had a really fun time last night. Do you think we should help him? He is a bit of an eyesore here in the garden."

"Right you are. I would cringe to think what Dad would do if he found a drunkard on one of his walks. Here, you get the left side, I'll get the right." The Courier couldn't feel their touch through his armor, but he felt the pressure of them trying to lift him.

"Damn, this bloke is bloody heavy." The Courier felt one of the men shake his head a bit. "Oi, mate, you mind giving us a bit of help here? Get up, man. We can't lift you."

The Courier decided to try and talk to them. "Mmmph! Mmm, mmmph mmph."

"…You what?"

Okay, that was deffinitely not going to work. Who were these guys, anyway? They sounded like the waiters from the gourmand. Goddamn, if they were from the gourmand, then where was he?

"You think we should just call the gaurds?"

"No, I have an idea. Stand back."

"Are you going to… do like Dad?"

The Courier had no idea what the hell those two were talking about. He was about to launch into another round of meaningful grunting when he was launched up from his position, shooting through the air and landing in a heap. Thankfully, he could now see through the hole in his helmet.

The view was _unimaginable._ The ground was covered in those green slivers he had seen before, and there was a cobblestone path, lined by _living plants._ A beautiful, trinkling creek made its way through the scene, turning this way and that. Strange and tiny insects fluttered to and fro between… my god. _Living trees._

Right in the middle of the picture were two boys, who looked to be about 18 years old. They wore clothes that he had only seen in the pictures of Mr. House's penthouse. One was wearing a blue surcoat and white tights, and the other was wearing an intense purple outfit similar to the other, only he had what looked like a crown on his head. The two made their way to The Courier. The blue one looked extremely satisfied with himself, and he sounded like it, too.

"Wow, I really did it! I can't believe it, I used my will! Did you see that? That was amazing! I was like, _**kerpow! **_And then he was like, _**woosh, slam!**_"

"Yes, woosh, wham. Quite." The purple one said, sarcastically. He turned to The Courier. "Hello? Can you speak? What in the world are you wearing, man? Reinforced trashcans?" The blue boy snickered.

The Courier was not amused. After a few angry grunts and his best death stare, the crowned kid gave a laugh and told him he was just joking. Motioning with his eyes, he lead the boy to the release catch on his neck. After a good tug, the airlock was broken, and the courier was easily able to fling his helmet off with a snap of his neck.

"Holy hell, _where am I?_" He practically shouted. "I've been all over the wasteland, and this is not the wasteland. And you two are deffinitely not from the gourmand."

The blue one spoke first. "Wasteland? Brother, maybe he's from Aurora." The blue one snickered, to which the purple one gave a pained look.

"This is Bowerstone, mate. Where are you from? How did you get here?"

"Bowerstone? No, I'm not from there. I'm from New Vegas. My New Vegas. It was right after Hoover Dam. We were all heading back from our victory. Everything was perfect. The Legion was defeated, and the NCR had no choice but to turn back. Right before I was about to adress the crowd in Freeside, the King… that bastard. After all I had done for him, he couldn't bear to lose Freeside. I should never have expected the Kings to go so peacefully. And now I'm here in this hell ho-" He looked around. "…absolute paradise."

The Courier's mini-speech had gravely confused both boys, who had absolutely no idea what the hell he was talking about. They were about to say something when they were interrupted. Two figures approached from down the path, swords drawn.

"Yes, your majesty, this is where I detected the disturbance. Right over th- oh, you two. How did I know you two would be here?" A very dark man, covered in what looked like blue tattoos approached the group. He had a glowing red sword. The Courier thought it might be an upgraded shishkebab.

Another man, taller than the black one, stood just within the shade of the trees, throwing his features into sharp contrast. He was wearing what looked like a much lighter set of power armor, though he didn't have a helmet. Instead he wore a golden crown with a curious insignia on it. The crown pressed into his hair, forcing some of it to frazzle up at its edges, which looked very out of place on this man. His face was overall very handsome and delicate, but his eyes betrayed immense power. To the Courier it looked as though there were a storm brewing right inside.

His face was pale, but tanned, and his skin had almost as many of the strange tattoos as the black man. A frown touched his lips. It almost made The Courier want to admit all the crimes he had commited, and maybe a few of those he did not. His sword was as long as his arm. He swept it under The Courier's chin, pushing his head up painfully. When he spoke, his voice was soft. His words however, cut The Courier right to the bone.

"It's nice to finally meet you, Mr. Corning."

**That's right boys, I'm back. After taking a much needed two year hiatus, I am reared up and ready to write! Hell yeah! Ready to rock the house, baby!**

** Ahem. Anyways. I really am sorry to those who loved and wanted more of my absolutely enthralling fisrt chapter, as I'm sure you all did, and because of that I will be writing one chapter a day for the next week. Afterwards I will slow down a little, as I only have a week's worth of story written and I want to make quality, not quantity. **

** If I fail to upload as promised, you are all allowed to send me angry PMs about how much you hate me and my lies. Let's hope it doesn't come to that.**

** Sincerely,**

** Solomon Nicolas Vazquez**


	3. Chapter 3

The Stars Above, Chapter 3

Lilly Bowen was used to getting hateful stares. She was used to rude remarks. She could handle it when people had one hand on their gun as she walked by, she understood. Despite what people may have thought, Lilly was not stupid.

She had found a friend in The Courier. When the night was cold, he had no qualms about huddling for warmth near her, and while his comparatively small frame didn't help Lilly much, the fact that he was willing warmed her all the same.

Now she was faced with a new challenge, the first challenge she had faced without The Courier since her mind had cleared up. She tugged on her chains once again. It was looking pretty bleak. She heard footsteps down the hall, each click resonating off the brick walls. He was back.

"Get up, trollkin. It's time for your next fight."

Lilly got up without word. She had learned not too soon after she got here that backtalk was not tolerated. She had the scars to remind her. The guard pulled a lever and her chains were released. A door on the opposite side of the room opened. The sound of cheering filled the dirty room.

"Get up there quick, or you'll die right out of the gate. Your opponent certainly isn't wasting any time."

Lilly stretched. It was time. She made her way up the shallow slope that lead to the fighting grounds. Light poured into her eyes when she reached the top. A breeze blew her rags, and Lilly once again noticed just how barely clothed she was. She couldn't afford to be bashful. Not now.

To the side of the entrance, there was a rack of weapons. Swords, maces, spears, you name it. It was there. Most of them were in very poor condition, and the ones that weren't were usually for one specific person. Lilly grabbed her bumper sword off it. It was clean, unlike the other weapons. No one else could use it, it was just too big.

Hefting it onto her shoulder, she sauntered her way out onto the field. Wow. They really put a lot into it this time. These humans sure do love their games.

The field was a giant circle, almost three football fields in diameter. The ground was mostly packed dirt, but there was the occasional pond or copse of trees. There were also several buildings scattered thorough the field, and in the very center of it was a tall wooden tower, obviously hastily constructed but sturdy all the same.

Ringing the entire field were rows and rows of stands, enough to fit at least one hundred thousand people in it. The odd vendor stall dotted the stalls here and there, just in case you got hungry as you watched people gore each other.

Lilly remembered the very first time she had woken up here. She came too in the middle of battle, in the living room of a house. Confused, she ran outside to see groups of men in armor fighting each other. At first, Lilly thought she had been captured by the legion, and she rushed in to the fray, killing as many men that day as had been killed in the entire week of fights. A well-aimed fireball knocked Lilly unconscious, and she had woken up in shackles. From her count, it had been almost three weeks since then.

Returning to the present, she looked for the other gates on the far sides of the field. It looked like there would be three other teams for this game. The other teams usually consisted of multiple people, but Lilly was on her own, for obvious reasons.

A small boy ran up to her, scroll in hand. He stopped about thirty feet away from her. He wore overalls over a collared white shirt and a felt cap on his head, with nothing on his feet. Lilly knew this boy. He delivered her orders for the game each time, yet he still would not come close to her.

Bending down to his height, Lilly motioned with her hands to come closer. "It's alright, dearie. I won't hurt you."

Without pause, the boy took off running, leaving the scroll behind for her. Sighing, Lilly got up and got the scroll.

_Green is to hold the central tower. If the walls are breached the attackers must be driven out for or the tower is considered taken. Green does not have to stay in the tower in whole or in part. If all of Green perishes the fort is considered taken. If the fort is destroyed, the fort is considered taken._

_ Blue is to attack the central tower. If the walls are breached Blue must establish a defendable position within the tower for it to be considered taken. If the fort is destroyed it is considered taken. All of Green does not have to die for the fort to be considered taken._

_ Red is to support Green outside the central tower. Should any member of Red enter the central tower at any time Red is considered defeated and that member will be executed. Should the fort be taken, Red is to attack the fort and retake it. Should the fort be destroyed, Red is considered defeated. Should all members of Green die, Red is to take and hold the nearest building and hold there._

_ Black wins when all others are defeated. Should any objective be accomplished before Black's victory, Black is considered defeated._

_ Friendly fire will result in the offender being executed. Any attempt to leave the field will be met with full force. Any attack on the crowd will be met with full force. Anyone caught in the gates after the game has started will be killed._

Looking back, Lilly saw a black banner to each side of her exit gate. She grinned; looks like she got the fun job this time.

In the distance, a horn was blown. Green, which had already settled into the tower's defenses, ran to the ballista which lined the walls. Blue split up into three groups, spreading themselves out to attack from every direction. Red team instantly scattered into buildings and forests nearby.

Lilly took all of this in, and then ducked out of sight. She knew what she had to do.

Hiding in one of the denser copses, she watched as Blue began their march to attack the tower. The ballistae were doing their best, but they weren't fast enough to slow down Blue. Every now and again, three Reds would charge out of cover and stab in the back of one of the advancing Blues, but the advancing armies had posted back sentries, and more often then not a Red would find his clothes stained with a more natural dye.

Making her way around from copse to building and back to copse, she thought and thought. The rules had posed a bit of a problem for her. If she waited until Blue breached the walls, there was a chance that they would take the fort and win. But if she attacked now, and defeated blue, then Green would win. She would have to simultaneously defeat Blue and Green. The more she thought about it, the more hopeless she felt. The judges were pushing her, trying to make her work so they could attract more people. Bastards.

While she was lost in thought, five Reds had surrounded her. Luckily, one of them was stupid enough to cough while approaching. Jerking back to reality, she swung her bumper sword in a wide arc, missing but causing them to jump back. One of them spat in her direction.

"It's five to one, girlie. You think you can take us?" When Lilly said nothing, the man chuckled. "Want to play it like that, eh? Alright boys, lets show this monster what we're made of."

Lilly knew how to handle this. Before the men made too much progress, she let out a bellow that echoed across the field she flexed her muscles, causing veins to pop out all over her body. She turned her focus back to the five men, who were shaken now, fear in their eyes.

"You're going to die, sweeties."

She jumped forward onto the man who had spoken, crushing his chest in. Anticipating an attack, she dropped to the ground, dodging two blades as they whizzed pass. She swept her sword out, slicing legs as it connected, dropping three more men.

The last man standing had dropped his sword. Lilly shot forward with surprising agility, grabbing him by the neck. "Tell your friends Lilly says HELLOOOOO!" She pulled back and threw him toward the outside wall, where he hit the ground and skidded to a halt.

The crowd saw it all. Cheers shook the foundations of the very arena. A chant broke out. "_Trollkin! Trollkin! Trollkin!"_

Lilly frowned at her unfortunate nickname. She didn't even know what a troll was. "It's nightkin, sillies!" She shouted to the crowd, but of course her words were lost immediately.

She turned back to the focus of the battle. Blue had reached the walls and was halfway up. Red was dropping rocks and trying to dislodge the ropes that Blue was climbing up. Red had circled the tower, and was throwing rocks and their swords to knock down all the blues they could but were having a bad time of it. They had cut the ropes short. If a Blue fell there was no way for him to get back up, he was toast. Lilly saw one Blue who had been knocked off, balancing on a buttress.

Wait a second, the buttress!That was it. She hadn't noticed it, but there were only four main supports for the entire tower. She knew now what she had to do, and she had to act now or there would be no hope for victory. She watched as the last blue hopped over the top and fought their way in. Red began climbing on each other's shoulders to get onto the ropes. Now was the time.

She ran over to a lone tree, grabbing its trunk. She heaved with all her might, but it didn't budge. She heaved again, nothing. Lilly paused and gasped for air. This was tough. Reaching again, she got a hold of two roots and _pulled._

She felt the earth give way to her. The tree tipped, and with one more heave it fell to the ground, taking a large clump of earth with it. Lilly dashed over and picked it up, aiming the dirt clump at the tower like the most ridiculous lance the world had ever know. Then, she charged.

By now the crowd knew what was happening. The bulk of Red was halfway up the ropes, and when they saw what Lilly was doing they began shimmying down as fast as they could. One man jumped off the side, but died. The crowd cheered so loud, the air shook in Lilly's ears.

Then she connected, and the earth clump smashed the buttress in half. Lilly dropped her lance, running in the opposite direction. Her hit hadn't had enough force to knock it over due to the buttress supporting the other side, but with the smashed one out of commission, the tower was off balance, and falling toward Lilly like a chopped tree.

Lilly just made it out alive, getting to cover just as the tower crashed, saving her from being impaled by a piece of shrapnel. When the smoke had cleared, Lilly got out from behind her cover. The crowd was going wild. There were a few Reds straggling away with broken limbs, but everyone else was dead. Lilly jogged over to where she left her bumper sword, breathing heavily. Trumpets announced the arrival of the judge, but this time there was a group of people with her.

"Make way for the King of Albion!" a herald announced to two injured Reds, who got out of there as fast as possible.

As the group approached, Lilly could make out three distinct figures: The judge, who Lilly was familiar with, a tall, crowned man, and another person, who shocked her to the bone.

The Courier was here.


	4. Chapter 4

The Stars Above, Chapter 4

If The Courier thought that outside was beautiful, he was absolutely shell-shocked by the inside. Velvet, gold, and mahogany lined everything. Old masterpieces lined the hallways, old rulers looking down on him as he moved by.

The Courier walked behind the crowned man, whose cape billowed behind him regally. The two boys walked on either side of him, inspecting his recon armor, which The Courier had been wearing under his power armor. They kept reaching in, but The Courier was always able to deflect their attempts. The black man and two guards flanked them.

"What's this do?" The blue clothed one raised another finger, and The Courier again deflected him.

"Sam, Logan, behave your selves." The crowned man interrupted. The two stood stock straight. A cough came from somewhere behind them.

Not long after, they reached a room with a big table in the middle. The crowned man walked to a chair at the edge and sank into it. He motioned to the others to follow him in.

The table was very realistic. It looked to The Courier as if someone had shrunk down a real area. He noticed what looked like little black dots moving around on the roads, and saw that each cluster of cities had a banner. All the banners were blue except one, over the largest city on the map. A large cluster of the little black dots had collected around that city, and smoke was rising from them.

"This is Albion. " The Courier jumped. He had forgotten how close he was to the man who had minutes ago held a sword to his neck. "That-" he motioned to the dots surrounding the large city, "is your doing." He looked back up to The Courier, fire in his eyes.

The black man stepped up to them. "Now don't be like that. Chances are he didn't know what he was doing."

"That is irrelevant, Garth. The fact remains-"

"Excuse me, would somebody please explain what the hell is going on?" All eyes turned to The Courier. He reddened. "Sorry, but I don't even know where I am. What did I do? …Who are all of you?"

The black man frowned, throwing his tattoos into disproportion. "You really don't know a thing, do you?" After a pause, he continued. "My name is Garth. I'm the man in charge of running the campaign against your army. Er, well, it's not yours obviously, but- oh never mind. This is the King. He prefers to go by Hero, or King Hero, if you absolutely must."

Hero shot a look at Garth. "Call me King Hero, once. The dungeon was looking a bit empty this morning." He turned back to The Courier. "These are my sons, Sam and Logan." The blue one and the purple one bowed in turn, respective to their names.

Hero turned back to The Courier. "Enough with the introductions. I need to know what you know. First of all, are you this 'Courier?' The famous Christopher Corning?"

The Courier flinched at the mention of his full name. He hated when people called him that. "Actually it's not Christopher, it's Christophe."

"How sophisticated. Anyway, I want to know why there is an army of people running around killing my people screaming your name."

"A- a what?" Christophe looked at the map again. Those black dots must represent people. And the flags… wow. Looks like the king here was in dire straits.

"An army, Mr. Corning. With guns and armor like we've never seen before. And monsters, giant insects and horrific undead. Reptilian monsters the size of balverines. They came slowly at first, a few friendly, albeit confused men appearing and claiming to be from a place called 'HELIOS one.' Then the monsters came, along with more confused individuals, who often became outraged. They gathered strength, and they've been attacking my cities, taking them out one by one. Garth here has managed to slow them down, but they've got us cornered in Bowerstone. We captured a few of them, and they all have one thing in common. The last thing they saw in their world was the infamous Courier."

Before anything could be said, a guard dashed into the room. "Sir, they're attacking the city!"

Hero cursed. Garth smiled. "Let's give 'em hell."

**Hey guys, so the next upload will probably be a rewrite of the first chapter. Looking at it, there's a lot about it that I'm just not happy with. Unfortunately, due to time constraints that means chapter five is being pushed off until Wednesday, and Tuesday is going to be painful as I read 14 year old me's terribad writing. Adios.**


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